Folding table

ABSTRACT

A folding table comprising a basic structure ( 12 ) and a resting surface ( 14 ) mounted upon the basic structure ( 14 ), it being possible for said resting surface to oscillate between a substantially vertical inoperative position, and a substantially horizontal operative position. The resting surface ( 14 ) is mounted so that it can oscillate with respect to the basic structure ( 12 ) about a first horizontal axis ( 26 ), and the aforesaid basic structure ( 12 ) comprises a retention device ( 38 ), which includes: at least one articulation arm ( 40 ) articulated to the basic structure ( 12 ) about a second horizontal axis ( 30 ) parallel to the first axis ( 26 ); and a connection member ( 42, 142 ) operatively set between said arm ( 40 ) and the aforesaid resting surface ( 14 ).

[0001] The present invention relates to a folding table comprising abasic structure and a resting surface mounted on the basic structurewith the possibility of oscillating between a substantially verticalinoperative position and a substantially horizontal operative position.

[0002] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a particularlysimple mechanism which will enable control of displacement of theresting surface between the inoperative position and the operativeposition. A further purpose of the present invention is to provide afolding table which, in its inoperative position, can be slid into othertables of the same type, in order to reduce to the minimum the spaceoccupied.

[0003] According to the present invention, the above and other purposesare achieved by a folding table having the characteristics that form thesubject of the ensuing claims.

[0004] The present invention will now be described in detail, withreference to the attached drawings, which are provided purely by way ofnon-limiting example and in which:

[0005]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a table according to the presentinvention, in the operative position;

[0006]FIG. 2 is a side view in the direction indicated by the arrow IIof FIG. 1;

[0007]FIG. 3 is a front view in the direction indicated by the arrow IIIof FIG. 2;

[0008]FIG. 3a is a cross section taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

[0009]FIG. 4 is a plan view from beneath in the direction indicated bythe arrow IV of FIG. 1;

[0010]FIG. 5 is a view at an enlarged scale of a clamping deviceindicated by the arrow V in FIG. 4;

[0011]FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are cross sections taken, respectively, along thelines VI-VI, VII-VII and VIII-VIII of FIG. 5;

[0012]FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the clamping device ofFIG. 5;

[0013]FIG. 10 is a partially sectioned plan view of the part indicatedby the arrow X in FIG. 2;

[0014]FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating the table of FIG. 1 in theinoperative position;

[0015]FIG. 12 illustrates two tables according to the present invention,which are set up against one another, in the inoperative position;

[0016]FIG. 13 is a side view of a variant of the table according to thepresent invention;

[0017]FIG. 14 is a plan view from beneath of the table of FIG. 13;

[0018]FIG. 15 is a cross section taken along the line XV-XV of FIG. 13;

[0019]FIG. 16 is a cross section taken along the line XVI-XVI of FIG.13;

[0020]FIGS. 17 and 18 are cross sections taken, respectively, along thelines XVII-XVII and XVIII-XVIII of FIG. 16;

[0021]FIG. 19 a side view of a second variant of the table according tothe present invention;

[0022]FIG. 20 is an elevation in the direction indicated by the arrow XXin FIG. 19;

[0023]FIG. 21 is a plan view from beneath of the table of FIG. 19;

[0024]FIG. 22 is a cross section taken along the line XXII-XXII of FIG.21;

[0025]FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the device indicated by the arrowXXIII of FIG. 22; and

[0026]FIG. 24 is a side view illustrating two tables according to thevariant of FIG. 19, in the inoperative position and set up against oneanother.

[0027] With reference to FIGS. 1 to 12, the number 10 designates afolding table according to a first embodiment of the present invention.The table comprises a basic structure, designated as a whole by 22,carrying a resting surface 14, which can be moved between asubstantially vertical inoperative position, illustrated in FIGS. 11 and12, and a substantially horizontal operative position, illustrated inFIGS. 1 to 4.

[0028] The basic structure 12 of the table 10 comprises two supportingassemblies 15 which are the same as one another and set on oppositessides of the table 10. Each of the two supporting assemblies 15comprises two legs 16, 18 fixed to one another. Each leg 16, 18 has avertical or substantially vertical branch 16 a, 18 a, radiused at itsbottom end to an inclined branch 16 b, 18 b. The two inclined branches16 b and 18 b of each supporting assembly 15 extend on opposite sides,i.e., one towards the front part of the table and the other towards therear part. The inclined branches 16 a, 16 b may carry, at their bottomends, respective wheels 20, 22, preferably of an orientable type.

[0029] As may be seen, in particular, from FIGS. 2, 3 and 3 a, thevertical branches 16 a and 18 a of the legs 16, 18 are parallel and arefixed to one another by means of a joining profile 24. The rectilinearbranches 16 a, 18 a are staggered with respect to one another both inthe longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction. Inparticular, the vertical branch 18 a of the rear leg 18 is displacedinwards and towards the rear part of the table with respect to therectilinear branch 16 a of the front leg 16. The two rectilinearbranches 16 a, 18 a are of different lengths from one another. Inparticular, the vertical branches 16 a of the external legs 16 have alength greater than that of the vertical branches 18 a of the internallegs 18.

[0030] The top end of each internal leg is connected to the top end ofthe other external leg 16 by means of a top transverse element 26, theends of which are fixed to the legs 16. Likewise, the top ends of thetwo internal legs 18 are connected to one another by means of a bottomtransverse element 30, the ends of which are fixed to the correspondingends of the internal legs 18. In a plan view (FIG. 4) the two transverseelements 26, 30 partially overlap one another.

[0031] The resting surface 14 is mounted so that it can oscillate aboutthe axis of the top transverse element 26. A pair of supports 34 arefixed to the bottom face of the resting surface 14 and are mounted sothat they can oscillate about the axis of the top transverse element 26,for example, by means of respective bushings (not illustrated). Thesupports 34 and the corresponding articulation bushings are preferablyset at the ends of the top transverse element 26, in the vicinity of theareas where the said supports are fixed to the external legs 18.Preferably, the two supports 34 are made of metal elements with achannel-shaped cross section.

[0032] The resting surface 14 is moreover associated to a retentiondevice 38, which has the purpose of maintaining the resting surface 14in two stable positions, namely, an operative position, in which theresting surface 14 extends horizontally, and an inoperative position, inwhich the resting surface 14 extends in a vertical or substantiallyvertical direction. The retention device 38 comprises a pair of arms 40,each of which has a bottom end articulated to the bottom transverseelement 30 about an axis parallel to the axis about which the restingsurface 14 is mounted so that it can turn. Preferably, the articulationarms 40 are mounted so that they can turn about the bottom transverseelement 30 and are set at corresponding ends of said element, in thevicinity of the top ends of the internal legs 18. The retention device38 further comprises a pair of connection members 42, each of which isoperatively set between an end of the arm 40 and the support 34 fixed tothe resting surface 14. In the embodiment of the invention illustratedin FIGS. 1 to 11, the connection members 42 consist of connection rods,each of which has a first end articulated to a respective arm 40 and asecond end articulated to a respective support 34. FIG. 10 illustrates adetail of a non-limiting preferred embodiment of the retention device38. According to this embodiment, each arm 40 has, in cross section, achannel-shaped profile, and the connection rod 42 is set between the twoparallel arms of the channel-shaped section. A first pin 44 is providedfor articulating the connection rod 42 to the articulation arm 40, and asecond pin 46 articulates the connection rod 42 to the support 34.

[0033] As can be seen from a comparison between FIGS. 2 and 11, theretention device 38 holds the resting surface 14 stably in an operatingposition, in which the resting surface 14 is horizontal (see FIG. 2),and in an inoperative position, in which the resting surface 14 isvertical (see FIG. 11). The resting surface 14 can be freely displacedfrom one to the other of said positions simply by causing the restingsurface 14 to rotate about its own axis of articulation. The retentiondevice 38 is shaped so as to define two end-of-travel positionscorresponding to the two positions, the operative one and theinoperative one. In particular, a first end-of-travel position isreached in the condition in which the connection rods 42 extend parallelto the resting surf ace 14 (FIG. 2). In the said condition, the geometryof the retention device 38 prevents any further rotation of the restingsurface 14 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2. A secondend-of-travel position is defined by the point where the articulationarms 40 bear upon the top transverse element 26 (FIG. 11). In the lattercondition, the device 38 prevents any further rotation of the restingsurface 14 in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 11. Theresting surface 14 will, therefore, be able to oscillate only betweenthe two extreme positions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 11.

[0034] With reference to FIG. 12, according to a particularlyadvantageous characteristic of the present invention, two tables 10 ofthe same type, when in an inoperative position, can be slid into oneanother. In the position where they are slid into one another, theinclined portions 16 b, 18 b of a first table are set respectively aboveand below the corresponding inclined portions 16 b and 18 b of a secondtable set up against the first one. As can be seen in FIG. 12, thispossibility of sliding the tables into one another makes for aconsiderable saving in terms of space required for storing a pluralityof tables when they are not being used.

[0035] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, thetable 10 is provided with a clamping device 50 for clamping the restingsurface 14 in the operative position.

[0036] FIGS. 5 to 9 present a first embodiment of the clamping device50. This device comprises a body 52 fixed to the bottom face of theresting surface 14, for instance by means of screws 54. The clampingdevice 50 comprises a catch 56 that can move with respect to the body 52between a clamped position and a released position. The catch 56 has anengagement tooth 58 which co-operates with a corresponding engagementtooth 60 formed at one end of a corresponding connection rod 42. Theclamping device 50 comprises a spring 62 which pushes the catch 56towards the clamping position. The spring 62 is preferably provided withtwo arms 64, 66 and a plurality of turns 68. In this embodiment of theinvention, the spring 62 is set with the turns 68 wound around a pinelement 70 of the shell or casing 52, with a first arm 64 which restsagainst the casing 52 and a second arm 66 which pushes against a surface72 of the catch 56. The clamping device 50 comprises a disengagementlever 74 articulated to the casing 52. Preferably, the lever 74 has ahole 76 at one of its ends, which engages the pin element 70 itself sothat the latter can turn. Mounted around the pin element 70 is thespring 62. The lever 74 has an active surface 78, which co-operates withone surface 80 of the catch 56, opposite to the surface 72 against whichthe branch or arm 66 of the spring 62 acts.

[0037] With reference to FIG. 5, the spring 62 exerts on the catch 56 anelastic force which pushes the catch towards the clamping position. Thecatch 56 is slidably mounted in a seat 82 of the casing 52 and can movein a rectilinear direction between an extracted position, correspondingto the clamping position, and a retracted position, corresponding to thedisengagement position. In order to bring the catch 56 into thedisengagement position, it is sufficient to cause the release lever 74to oscillate in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 5. This figureshows, by means of a dashed line, the position of the lever 74corresponding to the disengagement position of the catch 56. When thelever 74 is released, the spring 62 brings the catch 56 back into theclamping position.

[0038] Preferably, the table according to the present invention isprovided with two clamping devices 50, each of which is set in aposition corresponding to a respective connection rod 42. Each clampingdevice 50 is set in such a way that, as is illustrated in FIG. 2, thetooth 60 of each connection rod 42 engages the tooth 58 of therespective catch when the resting surface 14 is in the operativeposition. The teeth 58, 60 are shaped in such a way that their relativeengagement occurs automatically during rotation of the resting surface14 into the open position. In practice, during the last phase of themovement of rotation of the resting surface 14 towards the openposition, the tooth 60 of each connection rod 42 enters into contactwith the bottom side of the corresponding tooth 58 and pushes the catchbackwards against the action of the spring. As soon as the restingsurface 14 reaches the horizontal operative position, the catch 50,under the action of the spring, moves into the clamping position, inwhich the two teeth 58, 60 are mutually engaged. In this position, thetwo connection rods 42 are constrained so that they remain parallel tothe resting surface 14. It will be appreciated that, with the connectionrods 42 engaged by the clamping devices 50, the articulation arms 40 arenot able to rotate, and the resting surface 14 is clamped in theoperative position.

[0039] Preferably, the levers 74 of the two clamping devices 50 areconnected to each other by means of a release bar 84. As is illustratedin FIGS. 5 and 9, each end of the release bar 84 is articulated to acorresponding end of a lever 74 about an axis parallel to the axis ofarticulation of the lever 74, for example, by means of a pin 86. As isillustrated in FIG. 5, by exerting a tensile force on the release bar 84in the direction indicated by the arrow 88, rotation of both of therelease levers 74 is obtained and the simultaneous disengagement of boththe catches 58. Hence, in order to cause the resting surface 14 torotate towards the inoperative position, the user must simply pull therelease bar 88 to disengage the catches and cause the resting surface 14to rotate towards its inoperative position.

[0040] FIGS. 13 to 18 illustrate a second embodiment of the presentinvention. The items that correspond to the ones previously describedare designated by the same reference numbers. The version of the tableshown in FIGS. 13 to 18 differs from the one previously described onlyas regards the way the clamping device is made. With reference to FIGS.15 to 18, the clamping device 50 comprises a catch 100, which is mountedso that it can slide in a rectilinear direction in a guide made ofsectional strip 102 fixed to the resting surface 14. A helicalcompression spring 104 is set between the catch 100 and the guide madeof sectional strip 102 and exerts on the catch 100 an elastic force thattends to push it towards the clamping position. The catch 100 isprovided with an engagement tooth 106, which co-operates with acorresponding engagement tooth 60 of the connection rod 42. Also in thisembodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 14, there are preferably provided twoclamping devices 50, each of which is set in a position corresponding toa respective connection rod 42. A release bar 108 is provided forcontrolling simultaneous disengagement of both the catches 100 of thetwo release devices 50. The release bar 108 is fixed at its ends to twocatches 100, as is illustrated, for example, in FIG. 17. The release bar108 is mobile in the direction indicated by the arrow 110 in FIG. 14 inorder to bring the two catches 100 into the disengagement position. Assoon as the user releases the release bar 108, the springs 104 bring thecatches 108 back into the clamping position. Also in this case, thecatches 100 automatically engage the connection rods 42 when the restingsurface 14 reaches its horizontal operative position.

[0041] FIGS. 19 to 24 illustrate a third embodiment of the tableaccording to the present invention. The items corresponding to the onesdescribed previously are designated by the same reference numbers.

[0042] In this third embodiment, the basic structure 12 of the tablecomprises, as described previously, a retention device 38 comprising apair of articulation arms 40 articulated to a bottom transverse element30. In this embodiment, each retention device 38 comprises a pair ofslidable-connection members 142, which replace the connection rods 42 ofthe previous embodiments. Each slidable-connection member 142 isarticulated at one end 144 of the respective articulation arm 40 aboutan axis parallel to the axis of articulation of the arms 40. Eachslidable-connection member engages a respective support 34 slidablyalong a direction parallel to the resting surface 14. Theslidable-connection member 142 is constrained to move with respect tothe resting surface 14 in a rectilinear direction parallel to theresting surface 14 and orthogonal to the axis of articulation of theresting surface 14 of the basic structure 12. In the embodimentschematically illustrated in the figures, each slidable-connectionmember 142 is provided with a pair of slits 148, which are engaged byrespective pins 146 carried by the respective support 34. Engagementbetween the pin 146 and the slit 148 defines two end-of-travel limitpositions of the slidable-connection member 142 with respect to thesupport 34. The two end-of-travel positions of the slidable-connectionmember 142 correspond, respectively, to the operative positionillustrated in FIG. 19 and to the inoperative position illustrated inFIG. 24. Preferably, the top ends 144 of the two articulation arms 40are connected to one another by means of a transverse element 150, aboutwhich the ends of the slidable-connection members 142 are articulated.

[0043] Also in this embodiment of the invention a clamping device 50 isprovided for clamping the resting surface 14 in the operative position.The clamping device 50 can be made as in the embodiments previouslydescribed or as illustrated in FIGS. 19 to 24 and, in particular, inFIGS. 22 and 23. With reference to the said figures, the clamping device50 comprises a lever 154 having a portion shaped like a hook 156,designed to hook the transverse tubular element 150. The lever 154 isarticulated to the resting surface 14 by means of a pin 158 parallel tothe axis of articulation of the resting surface 14 and carried by aflange 160 fixed to the bottom face of the resting surface 14. Anelastic element 162 tends to cause the lever 154 to rotate in thedirection indicated by the arrow 164 and to maintain the said lever 154in an engagement position.

[0044] As is illustrated in FIGS. 19, 21 and 22, when the restingsurface 14 is in the operative position, the transverse element 150,which joins the ends of the arms 140 together, is engaged with thehook-shaped end 156 of the lever 154. In this condition, the restingsurface 14 is clamped in a stable position and cannot rotate about itsaxis of articulation. In order to set the resting surface 14 in itssubstantially vertical inoperative position, the user acts on the lever154 in the direction indicated by the arrow 166. The lever 154 rotatesabout the pin 158, and the hook-shaped portion 156 disengages from thetransverse element 150. At this point, the resting surface 14 is free torotate about its own axis of articulation. The arms 40 and theconnection members 142 guide the movement of rotation of the restingsurface 14 about its own axis of articulation and withhold the restingsurface 14 in the inoperative position illustrated in FIG. 24. Also inthis embodiment, two tables of the same type can be slid into one otheras illustrated in FIG. 24.

[0045] The table according to the present invention may undergovariations, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.For example, the retention device 28 could be provided with just onearticulation arm 40 for a narrow resting surface, or else more than twoarticulation arms could be provided for a wider resting surface.

1. A folding table comprising a basic structure (12) and a restingsurface (14) mounted upon the basic structure (14), it being possiblefor said resting surface to oscillate between a substantially verticalinoperative position, and a substantially horizontal operative position,characterized in that the resting surface (14) is mounted so that it canoscillate with respect to the basic structure (12) about a firsthorizontal axis (26), and in that the aforesaid basic structure (12)comprises a retention device (38), which includes: at least onearticulation arm (40) articulated to the basic structure (12) about asecond horizontal axis (30) parallel to the first axis (26); and aconnection member (42, 142) operatively set between said arm (40) andthe aforesaid resting surface (14).
 2. The table according to claim 1,characterized in that said retention device (38) comprises at least oneconnection rod (42) having a first end articulated to the aforesaidarticulation arm (40) and a second end articulated to the restingsurface (14).
 3. The table according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe aforesaid connection member (142) is mounted so that it can slidewith respect to the resting surface (14) along a direction parallel tothe resting surface (14) and orthogonal to the axis of oscillation (26)of the resting surface.
 4. The table according to claim 1, characterizedin that the basic structure (12) comprises a pair of supportingassemblies (15), each of which comprises an external leg (16) and aninternal leg (18), said legs being arranged so as to enable two tablesof the same type to be slid into one another when the respective restingsurfaces (14) are in the aforesaid inoperative position.
 5. The tableaccording to claim 5, characterized each of said legs (16, 18) comprisesa vertical portion (16 a, 18 a) radiused at its bottom end to aninclined portion (16 b, 18 b), said vertical portions (16 a, 18 a) beingstaggered with respect to one another in a direction parallel to theaxis of articulation of the resting surface (14).
 6. The table accordingto claim 5, characterized in that the two external legs (16) of saidsupporting assemblies (15) carry the axis of articulation of the restingsurface (14).
 7. The table according to claim 6, characterized in thatthe aforesaid internal legs (18) carry the axis of articulation of saidat least one articulation arm (40).
 8. The table according to claim 1,characterized in that it comprises at least one clamping device (50) forclamping the resting surface (14) in the aforesaid operative position.9. The table according to claim 8, characterized in that said clampingdevice (50) comprises a catch (56, 100) which can slide in a directionparallel to the resting surface (14) and move between a clampingposition and a disengagement position, said catch (56) being associatedto elastic means (62, 104), which push said catch towards its clampingposition.
 10. The table according to claim 9, characterized in that itcomprises two clamping devices (50) set in a position corresponding torespective connection members (42), a transverse release bar (84) beingprovided for controlling simultaneous disengagement of said catches (56,100).
 11. The table according to claim 8, characterized in that saidclamping device (50) comprises a lever (154) designed to engage with atransverse element (150), which connects together the aforesaid arm (40)and the aforesaid connection member (142) in an articulated way.
 12. Thetable according to claim 5, characterized in that the aforesaid inclinedportions (16 b, 18 b) are designed to be set above or below thecorresponding inclined portions of a second table when two or moretables of the same type are set up against one another in the aforesaidinoperative position.